When tragedy strikes, such as the sudden death of Acadie-Bathurst Titan player Jordan Boyd Monday, the entire junior hockey community feels the loss. Boyd, a 16-year-old Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player from Bedford, N.S., collapsed on the ice during a workout during the first day of rookie camp. Medical personnel on the team tried three times to revive him before Boyd was pronounced dead at hospital.

“I read it with my son last night and you hate seeing that,” IceDogs GM/head coach Marty Williamson said. “You try to do everything you can and sometimes it’s just an accident.”

Incidents like that hit Williamson especially hard.

“It’s a 16-year-old and probably an exciting time for him going to camp and for that to happen is just terrible,” he said.

Williamson has never had to face a similar situation, but has had a couple of close calls. One of his players had his wrist sliced on the bench when he was jumping over the boards.

“You think it was not that bad,” he said. “He was rushed across the ice and then you hear later about how close he was to being in serious condition.”

To keep a close watch on their players’ health, the IceDogs invested in heart monitors two years ago for all the players to wear at practice.

IceDogs trainer Pete Dobbin is at every practice monitoring players’ heart rates on a laptop. Heart rates go up during drills and then go down when the drill ends. If players are really tired, the heart rates stay up and Dobbin comes down and tells the coaches to cut the practice short or go to fun and easy drills.

It also allows the coaching staff to determine the work level of players when the team is well-rested.

“If some players are working harder, we can show other players they’re not working hard enough.”

For Williamson, the most important part of the heart monitors is player safety.

“If we have a player who has a irregular heart beat, we get it looked at,” he said.

Former IceDog Myles Doan had an irregular heart beat during one practice but everything later checked out OK. Some players have naturally higher or lower heart rates and the monitors can also catch deviations from those rates.

The heart monitors are an important tool in Williamson’s belief in rest management.

“We push these guys awfully hard and you saw last year in Kingston that their young kids hit a wall,” he said. “I’m huge believer in having your team rested.”

Unfortunately, the team doesn’t have enough heart monitors to outfit everyone at training camp and the team relies on full physicals by the players’ own doctors before camp begins, including heart stress tests.

During training camp, there are defibrillators at the arena and several people trained in CPR.

“We have someone on both benches plus Pete Dobbin who is fully trained in the whole area,” Williamson said.